That's the same problem that I have been running into. One place you may want to keep an eye on is Glowforge. They are a Washington based startup with laser cutters ranging from $4000 for the basic model to $8000 for their "pro" model.
I've been keeping an eye on them because it looks like they are offering a laser cutter aimed at the "hobby" level that is both high quality and compact. And it sounds like it is a self contained unit that doesn't require a lot of tuning/other fancy equipment that some other laser cutters need. However, they don't ship until June, and I kind of want to wait to hear if they actually live up to their hype.
I know them. At the moment they don't ship to Europe and the shipping cost is an additional 900$. I probably would have one already when i could buy one here in germany :)
Ahh gotcha. Yeah, that's unfortunate, shipping is always a hassle. I'm in the same state as them, and it looks like even for me the shipping is almost $200. Hopefully as laser cutting becomes increasingly mainstream, more universal options will become available.